Burgers & Fries – a healthier version

One of our favorite appetizers at a restaurant back in Kuwait was a platter of sliders. They had the softest buns with a light twist, a yummy mayo-based sauce, crispy shoe string fries, and of course, the mini beef burger. Though tasty, when you put the ingredients together and it doesn’t make for the healthiest of appetizers. I decided to try to make a healthier version of the appetizer — and I was quite pleased with the result.

Instead of the bun, I baked sweet potato rounds. Instead of the potato fries, I used parsnips. Instead of the mayo, I used avocado. The only thing that remained somewhat the same was the burger. I don’t know what ingredients were used in the original recipe, but I kept my burger really simple, 100% lean ground beef, some diced onion, and a few spices. The combination of flavors was great. Here’s the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, medium size

3 parsnips, peeled and cut into matchstick slices

500 g lean ground beef

1/4 cup onion, diced

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 avocado, peeled, deseeded, and mashed

extra virgin olive oil for drizzling/cooking

Himalayan salt to taste

Directions:

Sweet Potato Rounds

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes. Cut into rounds, about 1/2 inch thick.

Place parchment paper on a baking tray, slightly coat with olive oil

Lay the sweet potato rounds on the baking tray. Make sure the rounds don’t touch. Brush each round with a touch of olive oil. Sprinkle a bit of Himalayan salt on the potatoes.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Flip each potato then bake for another 20 minutes.

Remove from the baking tray and place the rounds on kitchen towel to absorb the oil.

Beef Burgers

In a large bowl combine together the minced beef, diced onion, garlic powder, coriander powder, cumin, and salt. Mix well.

Shape into mini burgers.

Heat a frying pan. Add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry each burger for about 4 minutes on each side (may need longer depending on the thickness of your burger patties).

Remove from the pan and place on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.

Parsnip Fries

Wash and peel the parsnips.

Slice finely into thin strips. You can also use a spiralizer.

Heat a frying pan. Add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the parsnips and fry until they’re soft but slightly crispy and golden in color. (About 3-4 minutes on medium heat.)

Avocado Topping

Wash, peel, deseed the avocado.

Mash the avocado flesh.

Add spices to your taste — I kept it as plain avocado to allow the other flavors of the ingredients come out.

Assembling the burger

One sweet potato round, one burger patty, a dollop of mashed avocado, and a few parsnip fries on top to garnish.

I tried the sliders both with a second sweet potato round on top and just with the single sweet potato — both versions were great 🙂

sliders – with sweet potato rounds as the ‘bun’

I served this with a simple rocket salad:

Ingredients:

2 cups rocket leaves

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes

1/2 cup diced black olives

2 tablespoons pine nuts

drizzle extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste for the dressing

Directions:

Put all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Toss to evenly coat with dressing. Serve and enjoy!